August 10, 2016

4 Ways to Check your Airtime Balance on Tracfone Smartphones

How to Check Your Minutes Balance on Tracfone Smartphones

Below we share how you can check your airtime on Tracfone smartphones. If you're new to Tracfone, consider taking a look at our Beginners Guide to Tracfone (opens in new window).

Check Airtime Balance on Tracfone Smartphone

On older, non Android phones, airtime and service days are displayed on the home screen and via the prepaid menu for easy monitoring.

But on Android Smartphones, there is no automatic menu or display for your airtime. So how can you check your balance? We will answer that here, with several different ways!

Tracfone is a prepaid cell phone service provider that also sells phones to use with their service. They have a wide variety of phones, from flip phones to touchscreen smartphones. Visit our Cell Phone Reviews page to see the options including some of the latest Android devices.

On Android smartphones, minutes are not treated the same as on feature phones, they are split into three buckets for texts/talk/data.

It is always important to keep track of your airtime and service days with Tracfone because if you run out of minutes or service days, you can't make any calls. Now with your texts, talk and data split into different buckets for Android phones, it is even more important to keep track of how many of each you have remaining. Take a look at our explanation of How Minutes Work on Android Phones for more information.

Well, if you're having trouble checking your airtime on a Tracfone smartphone, we've got an easy solution for you, actually we have four different solutions!

4 Ways to Check your Tracfone Balance on Smartphones

Because it is so important to manage your airtime with Tracfone, we've included four different ways to check your balance! Not all of these methods will work for everyone, but hopefully you can find a convenient way to check your balance.

1. Use the Tracfone My Account App

Tracfone Airtime Widget on Android

The Tracfone App (follow the link to it on Google Play) is a helpful app you can download on your Android phone and use to check your balance.

Once you download the app you can enter your details and keep up with your remaining minutes.

You can even add a widget to your home-screen that will display your airtime, much like on older feature phones!

Step by Step Guide for Getting the Tracfone My Account App:

Step 1 - Go to the Google Play Store on your phone (you should have an app on your homescreen that takes you there) and search for 'Tracfone My Account'. Select the app and choose 'Install'

Step 2 - Once the app is installed, launch it and enter your Tracfone account login details. If you don't already have a Tracfone account, simply go to the Tracfone website and create one.

Step 3 - Use the app to check your remaining balance. At this point you can also install a widget on your homescreen so you can always view your balance. To do this, select the option on your phone to view all apps, and then look for a list of widgets, and select the Tracfone My Account widget.

If you don't have the space for this app on your phone, or want to check your balance online, you can use any of the following methods.

2. View Your Airtime on the Tracfone Website

You can always go to the Tracfone website, whether from your phone or on a computer, and log in and view your account details. From there you can check your airtime balance and it should show your remaining minutes, and/or send you a free text with this information.

3. Use the Following URL to Check your Airtime Balance:

Some readers shared this easy trick for checking your airtime balance. It appears to sometimes redirect users to log into their Tracfone account, but it is a convenient method if it works.

You can enter the following URL to check your balance:
"https://www.tracfone.com/direct/CheckBalance?input_phone=1234567890" (replace 1234567890 with your phone number, and don't include the "" quotation marks). You should get a text with your balance.

And finally, some users are reporting the easiest way to check your balance, but it doesn't work for everyone.

4. Call *777*1# from your Smartphone to Check your Balance

Check your Tracfone Balance from your Phone!

This is by far the fastest and easiest way to check your airtime on a Tracfone Smartphone or BYOP device. However, it only works for some devices. A number of readers have reported they are unable to use this, so if you try it and it doesn't work, use one of the other methods above.

All you do is call *777*1# and you should get a pop-up within a few seconds that shows your talk, text and data. If you get something else, or an error, then it doesn't work on your phone.

Bonus! Enter your Phone Number on this Page to See Your Airtime Balance:

This appears to work for both smartphones and non-smartphones, and will display your service days as well. You can bookmark that site on your phone or computer, and check it at your convenience.

Tracking your airtime is important, so that you don't run out at an inconvenient time when you really need the phone. You can make your life a little easier by looking into the Tracfone Family Value Plan, Tracfone Service Protection, Auto-Refill, or other monthly plans.

Tracfone has expanded their options for monthly and automatic renewal plans, and they can be a good fit for many. You can sign up on the Tracfone website, and cancel at any time.

88 comments
:

Anonymous
said...

When I go to my account, it says "this information seems not to be available at your location at this time. Let's try another alternative" I've had the phone for a few months and have never been able to check balance on the app. I have wifi and data turned on. Am I doing something wrong?

I just purchased a Tracfone LG Optimus fuel and have this problem. Deleting and reinstalling didn't help. Still get the message reported by the OP. I have an older LG and the app works fine on it. WTF?

Just switched phone numbers from and minutes from one phone to another, or thought I did, never got the minutes to the right phone and now it seems that I get texts on right phone, but phone calls go right to voicemail. Advice here..never wash your phone...

I agree I have not been able to check the balance I switched to my new smartphone. The tech support number given on the back of my card purchased for minutes is worthless. The people at the tech support are hard to understand and very impatient. I was hung up on three times. I wish I had just kept my old tracfone.cag September 17,2015 at 5:41pm

Go to System Settings - Apps - Scroll down to the "My Account App" and open it. Click on "Clear Data". Then go back to the home screen and tap on your Tracfone Widget. Click or press "Add Card". Enter in your most recent Air Time Minutes pin number on the card ( 15 diget number ) . You will get a warning that the card has been used and to try again. That's ok. Wait for a few seconds to a minute. Then click or press "Balance". It should then load your Remaining Balances. This worked for me. I hope it helps.

I use this website regularly to get my balance: https://www.fastactportal.com/static/balance

I don't know why Tracfone doesn't seem to promote it (I checked the domain ownership and it is owned by Tracfone). It is very easy and doesn't require complicated login. Just enter your phone number and it spits back your balances for all buckets and your expiry date.

I switched from a LG Optimous to the byop a Samsung droid 4g LTE and haven't been able to get my balance , send or receive MMS messages or use my data . I usually have no signal . Customer service sucks . Wish I had stayed with my old phone . 11 years with tracfone and they seem to get worse every year !

There are a couple ways to check status on a LG Fuel phone. First is to just use the website. https://www.tracfone.com/direct/CheckBalance?input_phone=1234567890 where 1234567890 is your phone's area code and phone number (do not enter 1 before area code). You will need the last 4 digits of your phone's serial number (aka MEID DEC #). I'll explain how to get your serial number off the LG Fuel at the end of this. This worked for me today. The second way to get your status is to use the Tracfone App called MY ACCOUNT. It has a green and black Icon with a hand holding a phone. You have to load it from APPS. APPS is one of the four Icons found on the bottom of my phone. anyway click on MY ACCOUNTS and typically all it shows is the Service End Date. To get your minutes and data balances you have to drill down by pressing the MENU button on the phone. On the LG Fuel the MENU button is the three horizontal lines found on the right side of the phone, below the screen. Once pressed, a screen pops up from the bottom of the phone. This screen has 4 Icons arranged in a square. They are labeled ME, ADD CARD, BALANCE and EXIT. Press the one labeled BALANCE and you will find what you are looking for. Could Tracfone made it easier for us? You bet!! but that is just not the way things are so we have to suck it up or switch carriers. Now as promised, here is how you find your serial number: On your main screen, scroll across screens until you find the Icon that looks like a gear and is labeled SETTINGS. Click on it. Scroll all the way to the bottom to the choice labeled, ABOUT PHONE. Click on it. Mid way down the screen is a choice labeled STATUS. Yep, you got it, click on it. The very bottom of the page is MEID DEC with a 15 digit number below it. That is your serial number. Again, this information is specific to Tracfone's LG Fuel phone.

Agree. I have had the Tracfone app for two weeks. It worked the first time after install. The widget also worked, but only that first day. The easiest method is using the web as mentioned above https://www.fastactportal.com/static/balance This works!

I have an LG L41C. The app also stopped working for me. The last time my account balance was updated was Sept. 25. None of the above works for me. When I try using the link: https://www.fastactportal.com/static/balance I get an error message:

Oops! An unknown error has occurred please try again later or contact us at 1-800-867-7183 if the problem persists.

I've tried calling Tracfone and they can't even give me my balance. I've tried uninstalling the app over and over and over, tried clearing the data, nothing works.

I purchased this phone, and it worked great until I tried to put minutes on on everything was transferred for me at the store. Now tracphone tells me I have to get a new sims card. Why do I need a new sims card, it came with one. I now am waiting for a new card that has not made yet, and cannot use my phone

I got this "number" right from tracfone, entered it as a phone# in people. http://balance.tf-w.com I use it like I am calling and 1st screen asks my ph#, enter, hit submit and it gives minutes, txt, data and service date then it send you a txt with this info. What else could u ask for? It also works with wifi off and when u start enter ur ph# it pulls it up 4 u.

I used to have the same issues people are mentioning: the app started showing invalid/non-existant data, not updating, and the like. I thought it was useless as well until I finally logged on to my account on my home computer (and not through the phone's mobile site). Apparently for some reason the smartphone glitched out and disappeared from my account despite the fact it's the same number, owner, and info as my last phone. What was happening was the app was attempting to read my previous (and long since) inactive tracfone that was still listed. I simply added my current phone again (they ask for a serial number and your dialing number) and TADA! The new phone was added and as soon as I turned on my wifi/data it synched correctly and the app and phone widget work perfectly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

OMG. THANK YOU! this worked for me too! https://www.fastactportal.com/static/balanceFAST, easy and no serial # to enter and I dont have to use my space for that useless my account tracker app. I tried the 777 # that didnt work for me. so glad i found this answer. I even tried tracfone chat. they told me to redownload the app, but i was never even able to download it.

A question about the Tracfone app. My LG L33L Sunset turns on my home WiFi each day (when it is set to OFF - I have a very limited internet connection where I live) and I believe it is caused by the Tracfone My Account App that is set to "Optimize WiFi" in the WiFi Management. I think I want that set to "Disable WiFi management" which seems to say that it will not connect - can't really be sure. In any case - does anyone know if the App could cause that WiFi turn on, and how to change those settings - mine is stuck on the optimize setting and can't seem to be changed. Or - if I just delete the app, can I download it again sometime if I decide I want it and see if that addresses the problem of the mysterious WiFi turn ons? Dialing the *777*1# does seem to work for me, at least at the moment.

Pulled my hair out till I tried one of the above sites (www.fastactportal.com/static/balance). A window came up, I typed in my phone number, waited about 30 seconds. Presto, all the data I was looking for came up.

I affirm Frankey's statement.http://www.fastactportal.com/static/balance works great. Especially when you trying to manage a "family" full of phones, and do not have the physical phones easily available to you.

Anyone else unable to receive MMS messages? Sometimes pictures come that way and i cant open them. Other times, if someone is simply sending a text message to me AND some other people at the same time, it comew to me as an MMS and i cant open it. What's the cause and resolution?

Had the same problem and checked online. Found the answer that worked for my Moto G: Open Settings, then select 'Data usage'. The Moto has slide switches there for 'Cellular data' and 'Set cellular data limit'. They were both OFF (grayed out), so I slid them both On (green), and set a 2 GB limit with a 1 GB warning, as a guess. Bingo, picture my daughter texted me yesterday showed up today. No more "MMS is disabled" messages!

*777*1# used to work for me until now. For some reason it failed this time around, and I was forced to use the fastactportal.com website, which worked. Still unsure about it being a third party website, but the info seemed legit, and nothing malicious has happened so far.

To whom it may concern. Only recently has the app been updated and is mostly back to normal. Although it has a bug. Restarting ur phone can wipe the app. To get it back. Open the tracfone app in the app drawer, make sure ur logged in, as it signs u out. Without closing the app yet, click home button. Go to ur widget and click the login or update. It should come back. FYI the stay logged in feature in the app, has never worked.

I've been using the *777*1# option to check my balance on the LG Sunrise TracFone that I purchased when they had it on sale back last Christmas at Walmart for $10.I do have a question - I don't see an article about the 2G Conversion which is forcing us to buy new phones that are now 4G. I liked my old phone but since they are going to be disconnecting it I went with the $20 credit & upgraded to an Android ZTE phone but do not see written instructions on how to transfer my current number & minutes over to the new phone can you point me to the article on how to do that process. Unlike my old TracFones which I didn't use very often I actually want to keep the phone number from this TracFone since I've used it for several years & given the number to many family & friends. How long does it take TracFone to actually switch the number over to the new phone?

The *777*1# works on GSM/AT&"T phones. It will not work on CDMA/Verizon phones. The App works with the CDMA/Verizon phones, but not the GSM/AT&T phones. At least that has been my experience since I have one of each to ensure connectivity while traveling here in the Southwest US.

Is there a way to get a text message? This utility used to send a text message with the same information (except for service end date) but it doesn't do that any more. I don't use my phone very much, so it's easier for me to just look at the last text message I got after I requested the info. It would be nice if things worked like they used to, but it seems that Tracfone has changed several things around, and the links that I used to use don't work any more, or they don't work the same any more.

" also install a widget on your homescreen so you can always view your balance. To do this, select the option on your phone to view all apps, and then look for a list of widgets, and select the Tracfone My Account widget. " I can't figure out how to get the account widget on my Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime. I can't find "view all apps" I'm new to smartphones so maybe I'm just not knowing where to look.

I just have iphone#5 I just tranfer from tracphone to my iphone#5.I can need help How I can checking my Account Balance on my iphone#5.I was did make : *777*1# so I can find my Account Balane.Please show for me how I can checking my Acount Balance on my iphone???Thank you very much

I was misinformed by a customer service rep that did not know?? I'm assuming when you say straight, you mean straight talk. TracFone will not change a straight tlak phone to trac phone due to they own both services. You have to buy a trac phone.

Thanks. Method #4 and http://www.fastactportal.com/static/balance both worked on my Tracfone ... which is a "features" phone, not a smartphone. I'm glad I could find the answer here. Every time, I use their forum to ask a question (regardless of what the question is), the answer I'm given is "Check your inbox for a private message" - which, invariably, tells me to go into chat to pose the question.

In fact, that's one of the problems with the Tracfone forum. I just scanned a bunch of questions. And in virtually EVERY case, the answer was "Check your inbox for a private message." Does Tracfone have a problem with answering questions in their forum for all to see?

Still don't know my balance. When I've tried to download a tracfone app, it hasn't worked.

I logged into the website but clicking on "Check balance..." didn't work today.

The URL given as option #3 didn't work, nor did the bonus option. The only option I haven't tried is #4, because I don't want to waste minutes trying to determine how many minutes I have. It seems wrong.

I think tracfone is having technical difficulties today. In any event, I miss my old "dumb" tracfone, which always automatically told me my minute balance whenever I turned it on.

Word of caution:fastactportal.com domain is owned by GOdaddy.com NOT Tracfone. Call me crazy, but giving your phone number to a 3rd party opens possibility that they will sell your number to SPAMMERS someday.

Safelink is the Free Cell phone service provided by parent company Tracfone. All Safelink phones are Tracfone's. I recently upgraded my old Safelink (Free) Alcatel flip phone to the new Safelink ZTE Avid smartphone that I purchased from Safelink's online store site (Orlando, Florida). The old Alcatel flip phone displayed the remaining minutes, however as others have found here the new smartphones do not display remaining minutes on the home screen. I can confirm that the URL provided in the authors article above does show remaining minutes for the new Safelink smartphones.

How to >1) From your home screen open up Google search bar and enter > "FastAct Static Portal Balance" (Without quotation marks) 2) Then press on "Enter Tracfone Number - FastAct..."3) Then enter your cell number without the "1", and press "Submit"

Be patient it will take a while to display the information. It will not only provide you with the remaining minutes, but also the expiration service date necessary for re-certification.